African Research Institute
LaTrobe University

African Research Institute Committee:
Dr David Dorward- History (Director), Prof. Martin Chanock- Law & Legal Studies, Dr Elizabeth Dimock [Seminar Coordinator] , Derek Overton (Post-Graduate Representative), Eva Fisch (Library Representative).

Members of the Institute:
Dr David Dorward (History)
Professor Martin Chanock (Law and Legal Studies)
Dr Paul Cocks (Law and Management)
Dr Sue Thomas (English)
Dr Nicola Stern (Archaeology)
Eva Fisch (Borchardt Library)
Dr Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe (Business)

Associate Members:
Dr Elizabeth Dimock [seminar coordinator]

Postgraduates:
Derek Overton (History)
Matthew Durban (Grad. School of Business Management)
Allison Simons (Archaeology)
David Wines (Archaeology)
Mary Ross (English)

Postgraduate Affiliates:
Kwebena Adu-Boahen (Women's Studies, Melbourne)

Honours Students
Issah Farah (History)
Marlena Pitrone (History)

Summary of the Activities:
During 2002 the African Research Institute;

• held seminars on African issues,
• served as secretariat for the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP),
• provided briefing to Australian diplomats posted to Africa and to the corporate sector
• maintained on-going liaison with the Australia-Southern African Business Council as part of its links with the corporate community.
• maintained links with the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA) and various Non-Government Organisations involved in aid to Africa.
• provided informed media commentary of a range of African issues

Seminars

Helen Hintjens, (University of South Wales, Swansea and Visiting International Fellow at the University of Melbourne) When Right goes Wrong: Human Rights, Development and Genocide in Rwanda [joint seminar of the African Research Institute and the Politics Society]

Aggrey Omondi (founding coordinator in 1989 of the Ugungu Community Resource Centre in Western Kenya) , The Challenges of self-help in a rural African community and the importance of community-based ideas in facing major health, educational, social and economic issues.

Institute of Advanced Studies LaTrobe University

Members of the African Research Institute attended a welcome reception for Associate Distinguished Visiting Fellow Professor Rejoice Ngcongo, from the Department of Educational Planning and Administration in the Durban-Umlazi campus of the University of Zululand, South Africa. Professor Ngcongo spent six weeks at La Trobe University, in research and writing, presenting seminars in the Faculty of Education, and meeting Africanists to discuss her work. Professor Ngcongo has published widely on South African problems of education reform, women's issues, conflict management, leadership for schools, self-esteem and other topics and has held various administrative positions in her university and on national and international educational bodies. She currently supervises 19 M. Ed. Students and 4 D. Ed. Students.

Archaeological Research in Kenya

Nicola Stern was engaged in her evaluation of data from the Blue Tuff site in Kenya.

Postgraduate fieldwork

Allison Simons, a post-graduate student in the Archaeology Program, HES, completed 5 months field and laboratory research in Kenya for a Ph.D thesis on the origins and development of pastoral societies in southwest Kenya.

David Wines, a post-graduate student in the Archaeology Program, HES, is in the final stages of writing up a Ph.D thesis on the taphonomy and palaeoecology of the faunal assemblage from FxJj43, an Early Stone Age site in northern Kenya.

Derek Overton was engaged in additional research at the Public Records Office, London

African Research Institute Summer Studies Program

Dr Liz Dimock taught a 2002-2003 Summer Program on Women, Race and Gender in Africa.

The University of East Africa in Bosasso, Puntland, northeast Somalia

The African Research Institute, in conjunction with the Somali diaspora in Melbourne, collected over 4,000 tertiary texts and monographs, as well as 40 computers and other equipment, for the new University of East Africa in Bosasso, Puntland, Somalia. The Institute wishes to thank colleagues, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Borchardt Library, as well as other institutions, especially Deakin University Library, for their generosity.

Closer Links with the University of Ghana, Legon

In June, Dr Dorward visited the University of Ghana, Legon, as part of on-going negotiations toward closer relations.

Other Activities:

Dr Dimock has been engaged in consultancy work, including on-going commission for a volume on Africa to be published by Routledge in a series on Women and Anglo-Imperialism, 1750-1930, to be completed by 2005. Research on the project was undertaken in the British library and the National Library of Scotland during 2002.

Dr Dimock is Honorary Secretary of the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific.

Mr Mesfinhagos , former Defense Minister for Eritrea and now a leading opposition figure, addressed members of the Institute on Issues of Democracy in Eritrea. Mr Mesfinhagos was accompanied by Makonnen Woldu, from the Eritrean Action for Defense and Human Rights.

Dr Dorward gave several presentations in the ABC-Radio "Perspectives" series, as well as offering media commentary on the range of African issues.

Publications:

Martin Chanock, "Human Rights and Cultural Branding: Who Speaks and How", Cultural Transformation and human Rights in Africa A. A. Naim, ed. London: Zed, 2002)

Paul Cocks, "Musemunuzhi: Edwin Smith and the restoration and fulfillment of African society and religion", Patterns of Prejudice 35, 2 (2001) [This was accidentally omitted from the 2001 report]

David Dorward, "Nigger Driver Brothers": Racial attitudes of Australian miners on the Gold Coast (Ghana) in the early Twentieth century",Ghana Studies (2002)

David Dorward, "The Tragedy of Sierra Leone: Diamonds, Warlords and the Failure of the United Nations", African Identiies: Contemporary Political and Social Challenges Pal Alhuwalia and Adebe Zegeye, eds (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002)

David Dorward, African Editor, SBS World Guide (Melbourne: Hardie Grant, 2002)

Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe and Liz Dimock, African Communities and Settlement Services in Victoria: Toward Better Practices Service delivery Models (Melbourne: Australian Multicultral Foundation, 2002)

Stern, N., N. Porch and I. McDougall "FxJj43: a window into a 1.5 million-year-old palaeolandscape in the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation, Northern Kenya". Geoarchaeology (2002)17: 349-392.

Stern, N. "FxJj43, an Early Stone Age locality in northern Kenya". Antiquity (2002) 76: 925-6.

Seminar, Conference Papers and Public Addresses by members of the Institute:

Dr Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe, Formation of the African Union: A Critical Review, at Africa Confronts Globalisation, Macquarue University

Dr Dorward gave a public address at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra on The Royal Art of Benin in the Antipode.

Dr Dorwardc gave a paper on The Nigerian Colonial Investment Accounts: The Role of the Crown Agents in the Transfer of Capital at Africa Confronts Globalisation, Macquarue University

Kwebena Adu-Boahen, "Fante Female Slave Traders and Slaver-Owners, Cape Coast, Ghana, in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries" at Africa Confronts Globalisation, Macquarue University

Africans students at LaTrobe University

In the recent years there has been increased in-take of students from Africa to La Trobe University's various campuses. Many are full fees paying students sponsored by the Botswana Government. Others are recent immigrants to Australia, often mature-age students with considerable work experience and tertiary qualifications seeking to obtain qualifications recognized in Australia. The Institute actively seekss to promote closer cooperation and increased involvement by African students in its activities.

The Institute recognizes there is a need to promote greater interest by Australia in African issues and a more active involvement of African migrants in the broader Australian community.